From a tree, a 'miracle' called aspirin - CNN.com From a tree, a 'miracle' called aspirin By Elizabeth Landau, CNN Hippocrates wrote that willow tree bark and leaves would reduce fevers and pain Aspirin's uses for heart patients came to light in 1948 Complications of aspirin include gastrointestinal bleeding RELATED TOPICS Health and Fitness (CNN) -- If you take aspirin, you've got a pain reliever, heart attack preventer and possible cancer preventer rolled into one tablet. You might think that whoever invented aspirin is a genius, but the truth is humans have been using its natural equivalent for thousands of years. "Aspirin is one of those things that, long before there were ever clinical trials or any kind of scientific knowledge, people figured out, 'Hey, I feel better when I take this substance,' " said Dr. Karol Watson, assistant professor of cardiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. The drug has been making headlines because a study in the Lancet recently found that a daily aspirin appeared to lower the risk of cancer by at least 20% during a 20-year period.

That's based on data from more than 25,000 patients and builds on earlier findings that aspirin may lower the risk of colorectal cancer. The research has limitations and is not definitive proof, but it does add another benefit to an ancient remedy that has been called a miracle drug. "There are no countries in which it is unknown, unappreciated, or unavailable," the late medical writer Berton Roueché wrote in 1955, in an article later published in the anthology "The Medical Detectives." History of aspirin The word "aspirin" wasn't a coincidence. It comes from Spiraea, a biological genus of shrubs that includes natural sources of the drug's key ingredient: salicylic acid. This acid, resembling what's in modern-day aspirin, can be found in jasmine, beans, peas, clover and certain grasses and trees. The ancient Egyptians used willow bark as a remedy for aches and pains, said Diarmuid Jeffreys, author of "Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug." They didn't know that what was reducing body temperature and inflammation was the salicylic acid.

Hippocrates, the Greek physician who lived from about 460 to 377 B.C., wrote that willow leaves and bark relieved pain and fevers. It wasn't until thousands of years later that people began to isolate the key ingredients of aspirin. An 18th-century clergyman, Edward Stone, rediscovered aspirin, in effect, when he wrote a report about how a preparation of powdered willow bark seemed to benefit 50 patients with ague and other maladies, Roueché wrote. In the 1800s, researchers across Europe explored salicylic acid. French pharmacist Henri Leroux isolated it in 1829, Roueché writes. Hermann Kolbe discovered synthetic salicylic acid in 1874, but when administered often in large doses, patients experienced nausea and vomiting, and some even went into a coma. A buffer was needed to ease the effects of this acid on the stomach. The aspirin we know came into being in the late 1890s in the form of acetylsalicylic acid when chemist Felix Hoffmann at Bayer in Germany used it to alleviate his father's rheumatism, a timeline from Bayer says.

Beginning in 1899, Bayer distributed a powder with this ingredient to physicians to give to patients. The drug became a hit and, in 1915, it was sold as over-the-counter tablets. One patient who should not have been taking aspirin was young Alexei Nicholaevich Romanov of Russia, who had hemophilia. Aspirin would make the bleeding in this disorder worse, but the imperial doctors likely gave the boy this new wonder drug without knowing, Jeffreys said. Alexei, son of the last czar, probably improved because the mystic Grigori Rasputin told the boy's mother to stop modern treatments and instead rely on spiritual healing. Rasputin's influence on the Romanov family may have contributed to the uprising against them, making aspirin a possible player in their murder and in the end of czarist Russia. Aspirin's uses for heart patients came to light in 1948 when California physician Dr. Lawrence Craven recommended an aspirin a day to reduce heart attack risk, based on what he had observed in patients.

The Nobel Prize in medicine in 1982 was awarded to researchers who demonstrated the reason -- it inhibits production of hormones called prostoglandins. Prostoglandins are responsible for the formation of clots that leads to heart attacks and strokes, and aspirin prevents that clotting from happening. Toward better preventative medicine Today, aspirin is universally recognized as heart-attack prevention in men who have had prior heart attacks, and it has also shown to have benefits against stroke in women. More than one-third of all adults, and four out of five people with heart disease, use aspirin regularly, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented in a 2006 study. And the number of regular aspirin users rose 20 percent from 1999 to 2003. Still, it's not necessarily the go-to for over-the-counter painkillers. In 2007, pain relievers such as Advil, Tylenol and Aleve were among the top five analgesics sold; aspirin did not make the cut. "If you're hurting, you're going to reach for a stronger pain reliever," Watson said.

"In most cases, a baby aspirin a day is not going to make you feel any better or worse." The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that men 49 to 79 take aspirin to prevent heart attack, and that women 55 to 79 take it to guard against ischemic strokes, when the potential benefits outweigh the potential harms from an increase in gastrointestinal hemorrhage. In other words, aspirin can increase bleeding because of decreased clotting, so if you have bleeding problems, it's not a good idea. People who need to take aspirin because of prior heart attack can reduce the risk of stomach bleeding by taking a medication that cuts down on stomach acid like omeprazole (Prilosec), said Dr. Harvey Simon, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Still, "we don't like people to take medicine to reduce effects of another medicine," he said. Aspirin's potential cancer benefits have come on the scene more recently, and there aren't standard guidelines in that regard. The agency discourages taking aspirin to prevent colorectal cancer in people with average risk for that disease.

Also, the mechanism isn't entirely understood, although the thought is that aspirin helps the body cut off blood supply to cancer growths, Jeffreys said. Aspirin is in the family of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), many of which have been implicated in heart risk rather than prevention. Among the NSAIDs, the more potent pain relievers tend to carry more potential for cardiovascular damage, Watson said. Famously, the drug rofecoxib (Vioxx) was withdrawn from the market in 2004 because of heart concerns. A recent study found that painkillers called opioids heightened heart attack risk in addition to bone fracture when compared with patients taking NSAIDs such as aspirin and ibuprofen. And research published in June found that some NSAIDs may increase risk of cardiovascular death . Aspirin has a lot of cheerleaders, but it's important to keep the downsides in perspective. Dr. Scott Fishman, chief of pain medicine at the University of California, Davis, points out that as a pain reliever, aspirin's effects are potent but short-lived.

The way that aspirin inhibits enzymes in the stomach can lead to ulcers, which can be especially harmful in combination with decreased clotting. The drug works as a pain reliever because it blocks an enzyme that's required for the process of inflammatory response, he said. Patients should not just take it without consulting their physicians, Fishman said. Certain conditions such as bleeding disorders make taking aspirin dangerous. Some supplements, such as fish oil and garlic, can also cause bleeding problems in combination with aspirin, he said. Aspirin is not approved for children younger than 2 and should be used with caution in very young people because of a possible link to Reye's syndrome . Still, it's likely that aspirin has even more benefits that just haven't been discovered yet, Jeffreys said. In his view, the drug is taken for granted, and not enough emphasis is placed on it. "If I'm stranded on a desert island, and I can take one drug with me, that's the one I'm taking," Watson said. Share this on: How to Make Aspirin if You're Lost in the Woods: 11 Steps Making the Aspirin 1 Dry the strips if you have time.

If you are not in immediate need of the medicine, you should allow the strips to dry out a bit before using them. Lay them on a rock or other dry place in the sun for several hours. If you need the medicine right away, you can skip the drying step. 2 Start a fire . The best way to make willow bark tea is to boil the bark in water. To do that, you will need to make a fire. Boiling the water that you will be using for your tea is also the best way to disinfect and purify the water. You will also need a container to boil the water in, ideally made of metal. If you do not have a container, then you will need to search the area for something made from metal, glass, or clay that you can use to boil water. 3 Gather some water from a nearby water source. Collect about 3 cups of water and purify it by adding chlorine or ozone. If you don’t have these purifiers, make a fire and boil the water for at least 10 minutes before using. If you can’t start a fire, let the willow bark soak in the water for at least an hour.

Keep in mind that even though wilderness water can be purer in many ways than other water, it does contain various parasites. Boiling water or using a purifier is the best approach to protect yourself from these parasites. If you are in an area where giardia (a parasite found in water) is present, or may be present, make certain you follow the correct purification procedure. Giardia can cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms that may cause abdominal pain and may also cause you to become severely dehydrated. [5] 4 Add the willow bark strips to boiling water and simmer. After the water has started to boil, add the strips of willow bark to the water. Use about one tablespoon of willow bark per cup of water. Allow the willow bark to simmer for five to 10 minutes and then remove it from the fire. [6] Part 3 Taking the Medicine 1 Allow the willow bark tea to cool down a bit before drinking. After you have finished simmering the willow bark in water, pour the liquid into a cup (if you have one). Let the tea cool down for about 20 minutes so that you will not burn your mouth. After the tea has cooled, drink it slowly.

[7] Take the willow bark tea with some food if possible. Salicylic acid has an irritating effect on the stomach. Be aware that it will take a little while before you feel the effects of the tea, so be prepared to wait a couple of hours after drinking the tea. 2 Be aware of potential side effects. The most common adverse effect of willow bark tea is mild to moderate stomach upset, but there are a few other things that you should be aware of before you decide to drink willow bark tea. [8] Taking too much willow bark can cause nausea, vomiting, and tinnitus, or a ringing in the ears. Drink one cup and wait several hours before taking another dose. Prolonged use of willow bark tea may cause increased bleeding and slow down blood clotting. [9] 3 Know when to avoid using willow bark tea. Not everyone should use willow bark tea. Consider your age, medical condition, and other factors as well before deciding to use willow bark tea. Do not use willow bark tea if you fall into any of the following categories: [10] Children.

Children under the age of 18 should not drink willow bark tea due to the risk of developing a disorder called Reye’s syndrome. This condition causes swelling in the liver and brain. Pregnant or nursing women. Pregnant and nursing women should not use willow bark tea. Taking medications. Salicylic acid interacts with several different types of medications, so do not use willow bark tea if you are taking any medications. Community Q&A Updated: Views: 217,719 "I have a heart condition and do not believe that I would last long in a survival situation unless I can find a way to replace an aspirin a day to thin my blood. Very good information."..." more - Bill Cannon "Great article with very good details that someone at any skill level could understand. Especially liked the detailed description of the white willow tree. Very useful information."..." more - C. Cantrell "I take a low dose aspirin for my heart, this info is a blessing, it's good to know how to make aspirin in case I can't get any from the store."..." more - Thomas Boger Direct, simple to understand, and gave clear directions and precautions.

- Brett Carr This holistic approach to healing is the perfect way to end my day. - Gilberto Vela Thanks so much for your article. - Lamia Rahimova How to make aspirin from willow bark tree – The Family Survival Club Jason Richards 3 comments Since I do not like pumping my body with unhealthy chemicals I always look for alternative cures like natural remedies. I once had a pretty bad headache and not even the aspirin had no effect. This is why I started looking for other ways to help me relieve of the pain. What I found is pretty amazing and I am going to share it with you. The answer is willow bark tree. Wondering how a simple tree can help? I will tell you right away, but first it is important to recognize willow trees among other type of trees. The willow bark tree is Mother Nature’s aspirin. The real magic is that it is a great remedy for headaches, hangovers and minor pain. Willow bark needs to come from the branches of two or three year old trees. The good thing is that they are very common all over the world. What makes the bark special is that it contains the chemical called salicin.

When the body processes salicin, it turns it into salicylic acid, which makes willow bark the precursor to aspirin. People used willow bark tree as a headache cure way before aspirin was invented. Of course pharmaceutical companies will not encourage you to use willow bark tree instead of aspirin because of the obvious reason. Money. This alternative method does not have the save side effects as aspirin. Aspirin can cause stomach irritation or damage, while willow bark tree used with moderation does not. This lack of side effect can be due to salicylic acid that is being created when the body breaks down salicin, instead of directly entering the body. Willow bark tree can cause side effects only if it’s being taken in high doses for long periods of time. It it also indicated to not take it if you use blood thinners, you are allergic to aspirin, have kidney diseases or bleeding disorders. Apart from these, taken in normal amounts, willow bark tree is safe. Think of aspirin as the copy of willow bark tree, but with more chemical compounds, while willow is all natural. Spot the willow tree It is very important to identify the correct tree if you want to make a home remedy.

If you are not sure that it is a willow tree, then do not use it. Using the wrong kind of tree can result in illness or other damages. Only get the bark if you are completely sure it it’s willow. I will show you the 4 most common willow trees that grow almost anywhere except Antarctica and Australia. The Weeping Willow The White Willow The Black Willow Most willow trees can be found near a source of water. All these species contain salicin. The white willow tree is the most potent, but all of them do their magic. To be sure it is a willow tree you will also need to look at the leaves, they have a lance shape. You will also need to inspect the bark of the tree. Most willow trees develop ridges and furrows. Black willow has the bark nearly black and weeping willow has long, deep ridges, and it is a slightly gray color. Here is an example of a willow bark. If you want to make sure you have the correct tree you can take pictures and show them to an expert like a botanist. Once you have your tree, you can start making aspirin. You will need to have a knife with you.

The first step will be to take one branch. Cut into the tree’s bark, strip it off and isolate the inner bark. You can scrape of the inner and outer bark using a sharp knife. Wrap the piece of bark and head home because it’s tea time. How To Make Willow Bark Tee Once home, place your pieces of bark on a coffee filter and wrap it up. Put this wrap in another coffee filter and wrap this one up again and tie it. It should resemble a normal teabag. It is not mandatory to use 2 coffee filters, but this is how I usually do it. Have a pot of boiling water on the stove and throw the willow teabag in it. You will need to steer it occasionally and notice how the water turns into a brownish color, which is good. It takes about 15-20 minutes for the tea to be ready. When it is ready, pour the tea into a nice cup. To remove any solids, put a coffee filter on top of a cup and pour the tea slowly. Let it cool down, take a sip to check if it’s safe enough to drink it. You can add sugar if you want to.

A cup of this tea is excellent to cure a headache or other minor pain. I strongly recommend you to try this instead of an aspirin. You will be surprised of the results. It is also important to not overdose. Do not drink more cups over a long period of time because you will form immunity and it can have harmful effects. The advantage of drinking a willow bark tea is that it is 100% natural and it will not cost a dime. Using this tea in moderation can make a good alternative to aspirin. Do you know other beneficial effects from the willow bark tree? Share your thoughts in the comment section below. The History of Aspirin - Who Invented Aspirin? The History of Aspirin By Mary Bellis Updated August 13, 2016. Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a derivative of salicylic acid. It is a mild, non-narcotic analgesic that’s useful in the relief of headache and muscle and joint aches. The drug works by inhibiting the production of prostaglandins, body chemicals that are necessary for blood clotting and also responsible for sensitizing nerve endings to pain.

Early history The father of modern medicine was Hippocrates, who lived sometime between 460 B.C and 377 B.C. Hippocrates left historical records of pain relief treatments, including the use of powder made from the bark and leaves of the willow tree to help heal headaches, pains and fevers. However, it took wasn’t until 1829 that scientists discovered that it was a compound called salicin in willow plants that relieved the pain. In "From A Miracle Drug" Sophie Jourdier of the Royal Society of Chemistry wrote: "It was not long before the active ingredient in willow bark was isolated; in 1828, Johann Buchner, professor of pharmacy at the University of Munich, isolated a tiny amount of bitter tasting yellow, needle-like crystals, which he called salicin. Two Italians, Brugnatelli and Fontana, had in fact already obtained salicin in 1826, but in a highly impure form. By 1829, [French chemist] Henri Leroux had improved the extraction procedure to obtain about 30g from 1.5kg of bark.

In 1838, Raffaele Piria [an Italian chemist] then working at the Sorbonne in Paris, split salicin into a sugar and an aromatic component (salicylaldehyde) and converted the latter, by hydrolysis and oxidation, to an acid of crystallised colourless needles, which he named salicylic acid." continue reading below our video Should I Buy my House or Continue to Rent? So while Henri Leroux had extracted salicin in crystalline form for the first time, it was Raffaele Piria who succeeded in obtaining the salicylic acid in its pure state. The problem, though, was that salicylic acid was hard on the stomach and a means of 'buffering' the compound was needed. Turning an extract into medicine The first person to achieve this was a French chemist named Charles Frederic Gerhardt. In 1853, Gerhardt neutralized salicylic acid by buffering it with sodium (sodium salicylate) and acetyl chloride to create acetylsalicylic acid. Gerhardt's product worked but he had no desire to market it and abandoned his discovery.

In 1899, a German chemist named Felix Hoffmann, who worked for a German company called Bayer, rediscovered Gerhardt's formula. Felix Hoffmann made some of the formula and gave it to his father who was suffering from the pain of arthritis. The formula worked and Felix Hoffmann then convinced Bayer to market the new wonder drug . Aspirin was patented on February 27, 1900. The folks at Bayer came up with the name Aspirin. It comes from the “A" in acetyl chloride, the "spir" in spiraea ulmaria (the plant they derived the salicylic acid from) and the “in” was a then familiar name ending for medicines. Aspirin was first sold as a powder. In 1915, the first Aspirin tablets were made. Interestingly, the names Aspirin and Heroin were once trademarks belonging to Bayer. After Germany lost World War I, Bayer was forced to give up both trademarks as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

How to Make Aspirin from a Willow Tree « Home Remedies 2/15/13 10:44 AM How to Make Aspirin from a Willow Tree In this article, I will be showing you how to make a crude form of aspirin from the bark of a willow tree. It is a great remedy for headaches, hangovers, and other minor pain. The use of the willow tree as a mild pain reliever goes back to the Native Americans, who used it in much the same way that I do. Before we go any further, I am going to explain what we are making and how it differs from commercial aspirin. Commercial aspirin is a chemical called acetylsalicylic acid (say that one three times fast!). What we will be making is simply an herbal tea that contains salicylic acid, which is the raw material from which acetylsalicylic acid is made. So, why do they convert it from the raw salicylic acid into the commercial form? Two reasons: It increases the shelf life of the medicine. Salicylic acid becomes dangerous to use if you concentrate it.

Pharmaceutical companies are not happy with just picking a leaf or cutting some bark from a tree...they like to concentrate everything and make it as potent as they can. If you do this with salicylic acid, it can cause stomach bleeding. But, as long as you use it in a natural, unconcentrated form (like the willow-bark tea we are going to make), it is perfectly safe. I have used it for years with no ill affects whatsoever. So, now that you know what we are making, we can get to the process of making it. Step 1: Learn to Identify Willow Trees One little thing about herbal medicine to remember: If you have any doubt about the identity of a plant, don't use it. NEVER use a plant medicine unless you are 100% sure you have the right kind of plant. Using the wrong kind of plant can result in illness and/or untimely death. There are basically four types of Willow trees. The Weeping Willow The White Willow I believe this contains the most salicylic acid. This is the species I use most of the time because it is very easy to find. As you can see from the picture, it always grows near the water.

Also, I was told by some Cherokee folks that this kind of willow contains the most medicine. All the research I have done since then seems to confirm this. All these species of tree contain the chemical we are looking for, in varying amounts. Although the white willow (or "creek willow" as some people call it) is the most potent, all of them will work. So, how do you identify it for sure? well, first you will need to look at the leaves. They should look about like this: Some of them are a little thicker, like this: Now examine the bark. It should look something like the pictures below: Images via wikimedia.org , discoverlife.org , blogspot.com Now, at this point, I would break off some of the leaves and smell them. This is because I have used this plant for many years and I know its smell very well. You, however, do not know the smell that we are looking for. So, here's what I want you to do: Grab a handful of leaves, crush them up some, and smell them. I don't just mean take a quick sniff, I mean really take your time and make yourself familiar with that smell.

Take pictures of the tree, and take some of its leaves with you. Once you have done this, you are ready to verify the identity of your tree. The best way is simply to take your pictures and your samples to a professor of botany. If there is a university in your area, this should be no problem. If not, you can always email your pictures to the nearest one. If you are new to the study of plants, do not neglect this step. As I said before, ingesting random plants is a good way to die. Once you have gotten a positive ID from an expert, you should be able to identify willow trees yourself from then on. Remember the smell particularly, as this is the best way I have found to identify a willow tree, even in winter when the leaves are gone. Step 2: Cut a Square of Bark Once you are absolutely sure that you have found a Willow tree, you are ready to harvest the bark. Like all trees, the willow has an outer bark and an inner bark. The inner bark is what we want. So, get a good sharp knife out and cut a square into the tree: Make sure to cut it good and deep.

Remember, you are trying to cut through both the outer bark and the inner bark. Go over your lines a few more times with your knife and deepen the cuts. If your knife has some saw teeth on it like mine does, this is a good time to use them. Now, stick the point of your knife into one of the lines and gently pry outward. Go around the whole square, gently prying outward so as to gradually pull your square away from the rest of the tree. Remember not to pry too hard. If you do, you will just make the bark fly off in chunks, scattering the material that you are after. Instead, you want it to come off in one or a few large pieces. So, keep going around the square, prying a little farther each time, until finally your square starts to come loose in the desired fashion. Now, just keep doing what you've been doing. When three sides are lifted free, you can just peel it like this: Notice that some of the bark is white, and some of it is pinkish. The pinkish bark is what we want. As you can see, my square has come off in two pieces, which is fine.

Now let's just cut the last side off: At this point, I still have some little shreds of pinkish bark clinging to the tree. Of course, these need to be cut off as well. Cut or scrape off all the pinkish bark you can see. Here is what I ended up with: Two big pieces and a few little shreds. Here is what the tree looked like: Now, just in case you think that I have terribly damaged this tree, let me enlighten you. This little scar will heal rather quickly, and will not do any lasting harm to the tree whatsoever. In case you don't believe me, check this out. This is a willow tree that I cut a square from, about six months ago: As you can see, it is already healing up nicely. It has an ugly scar, but in time that will also be gone. While we're on the subject, I want to talk about sustainable harvesting. When taking materials directly from nature, it is vitally important not to use more than you need. It is also vitally important to avoid destroying the source. In this case, you can avoid doing any harm to nature by following these two simple rules: Never take from the same tree twice in one year.

In other words, whenever you take a square from a willow tree, you should not go back to that specific tree again for another year. This gives the trees time to heal themselves so that the stress upon them is minimized. NEVER cut a ring all the way around the bark. Just take a square about as big as your palm, that is all you need for a single dose. If you take too much bark at one time, it can kill the tree. If you cut out a ring around the tree, it will definitely kill it. Now, just wrap your pieces of bark in a napkin and head home. Step 3: Making Willow Tea This is, of course, a very simple and basic thing. First, put your pieces of bark on a coffee filter. Now wrap it all up in a nice little bundle. Put this bundle on top of another coffee filter. Wrap it up again, and secure it with a bread-bag tie. You have now created a teabag. You don't really have to use two coffee filters, but I do. One filter will do it, but two will do it better. Now, you just throw your teabag into a pot of boiling water just like any other teabag.

Stir it periodically, and keep an eye on the color of the water. It will slowly begin to take on a deep reddish-brown color, almost like the color of blood. After about 20 minutes, the tea should be ready. Don't overcook it or you will burn the medicine out of it. Once it is done boiling, let it steep a few minutes. Now you just have to filter out any remaining solids. There are many ways to filter a liquid, of course, but this is the way I do it. First, I get my filtering screen. This was half of a device called a "tea ball": It's just a fine metal screen. If you don't have one of these, a small cup with holes poked in the bottom will also work. I like this thing, though, because it fits neatly into a glass like so: Once again, if you don't have anything like this, just put a small cup inside of a bigger cup, and make sure the smaller cup has many small holes in the bottom. I'm sure you can figure that out without a picture.

So, now we put another coffee filter into the screen: And slowly pour the tea onto the filter as shown: Pour it slowly so that it doesn't get clogged. If you think the filter is clogged, lift up the filtering container and look for the drip: This one has stopped dripping, so I need to take the coffee filter in my hands and squeeze the liquid out, so that it drips into the glass. Once you have squeezed all the liquid out, change filters and keep going until all the liquid has been filtered into your drinking glass. All you have to do now is add some sugar (if you want to) and drink the stuff. You might be surprised when you find out that it tastes pretty good. That's all there is to it. You just identify your tree, cut out a square of bark, make tea from it, and drink it. As I said, this tea is excellent medicine for minor pains. I wouldn't recommend using it too often, as you can build up an immunity to it. I also would not recommend drinking more than one glassful at a time.

As I said before, salicylic acid can be troublesome if you take it in large quantities, but you don't need to take it in large quantities, anyway. This one glass should be all you need. Of course, this crude aspirin is not that strong, as painkillers go. If you are experiencing truly severe pain, this treatment probably won't make it go away (although it will probably help). This treatment will provide quick relief for minor aches and pains, just like its commercial counterpart, but it has the advantage of being 100% free and 100% natural. I hope this little pearl of wisdom will be helpful to all of you in the future, when dopeheads have made it impossible for honest folk to get pain medicine. How to Make Aspirin from a Willow Tree How to Make Aspirin from a Willow Tree January 28, 2016 by grisr0b Leave a Comment In this article, I will be showing you how to make a crude form of aspirin from the bark of a willow tree. It is a great remedy for headaches, hangovers, and other minor pain.

The use of the willow tree as a mild pain reliever goes back to the Native Americans, who used it in much the same way that I do. Before we go any further, I am going to explain what we are making and how it differs from commercial aspirin. Commercial aspirin is a chemical called acetylsalicylic acid (say that one three times fast!). What we will be making is simply an herbal tea that contains salicylic acid, which is the raw material from which acetylsalicylic acid is made. So, why do they convert it from the raw salicylic acid into the commercial form? Two reasons: It increases the shelf life of the medicine. Salicylic acid becomes dangerous to use if you concentrate it. Pharmaceutical companies are not happy with just picking a leaf or cutting some bark from a tree…they like to concentrate everything and make it as potent as they can. If you do this with salicylic acid, it can cause stomach bleeding. But, as long as you use it in a natural, unconcentrated form (like the willow-bark tea we are going to make), it is perfectly safe. I have used it for years with no ill affects whatsoever.

So, now that you know what we are making, we can get to the process of making it. Step 1: Learn to Identify Willow Trees One little thing about herbal medicine to remember: If you have any doubt about the identity of a plant, don’t use it. NEVER use a plant medicine unless you are 100% sure you have the right kind of plant. Using the wrong kind of plant can result in illness and/or untimely death. There are basically four types of Willow trees. The Weeping Willow The White Willow I believe this contains the most salicylic acid. This is the species I use most of the time because it is very easy to find. As you can see from the picture, it always grows near the water. Also, I was told by some Cherokee folks that this kind of willow contains the most medicine. All the research I have done since then seems to confirm this. All these species of tree contain the chemical we are looking for, in varying amounts. Although the white willow (or “creek willow” as some people call it) is the most potent, all of them will work. So, how do you identify it for sure?

well, first you will need to look at the leaves. They should look about like this: Some of them are a little thicker, like this: Now examine the bark. It should look something like the pictures below: Images via wikimedia.org, discoverlife.org, blogspot.com Now, at this point, I would break off some of the leaves and smell them. This is because I have used this plant for many years and I know its smell very well. You, however, do not know the smell that we are looking for. So, here’s what I want you to do: Grab a handful of leaves, crush them up some, and smell them. I don’t just mean take a quick sniff, I mean really take your time and make yourself familiar with that smell. Take pictures of the tree, and take some of its leaves with you. Once you have done this, you are ready to verify the identity of your tree. The best way is simply to take your pictures and your samples to a professor of botany. If there is a university in your area, this should be no problem. If not, you can always email your pictures to the nearest one. If you are new to the study of plants, do not neglect this step.

As I said before, ingesting random plants is a good way to die. Once you have gotten a positive ID from an expert, you should be able to identify willow trees yourself from then on. Remember the smell particularly, as this is the best way I have found to identify a willow tree, even in winter when the leaves are gone. Step 2: Cut a Square of Bark Once you are absolutely sure that you have found a Willow tree, you are ready to harvest the bark. Like all trees, the willow has an outer bark and an inner bark. The inner bark is what we want. So, get a good sharp knife out and cut a square into the tree: Make sure to cut it good and deep. Remember, you are trying to cut through both the outer bark and the inner bark. Go over your lines a few more times with your knife and deepen the cuts. If your knife has some saw teeth on it like mine does, this is a good time to use them. Now, stick the point of your knife into one of the lines and gently pry outward. Go around the whole square, gently prying outward so as to gradually pull your square away from the rest of the tree. Remember not to pry too hard.

If you do, you will just make the bark fly off in chunks, scattering the material that you are after. Instead, you want it to come off in one or a few large pieces. So, keep going around the square, prying a little farther each time, until finally your square starts to come loose in the desired fashion. Now, just keep doing what you’ve been doing. When three sides are lifted free, you can just peel it like this: Notice that some of the bark is white, and some of it is pinkish. The pinkish bark is what we want. As you can see, my square has come off in two pieces, which is fine. Now let’s just cut the last side off: At this point, I still have some little shreds of pinkish bark clinging to the tree. Of course, these need to be cut off as well. Cut or scrape off all the pinkish bark you can see. Here is what I ended up with: Two big pieces and a few little shreds. Here is what the tree looked like: Now, just in case you think that I have terribly damaged this tree, let me enlighten you.

This little scar will heal rather quickly, and will not do any lasting harm to the tree whatsoever. In case you don’t believe me, check this out. This is a willow tree that I cut a square from, about six months ago: As you can see, it is already healing up nicely. It has an ugly scar, but in time that will also be gone. While we’re on the subject, I want to talk about sustainable harvesting. When taking materials directly from nature, it is vitally important not to use more than you need. It is also vitally important to avoid destroying the source. In this case, you can avoid doing any harm to nature by following these two simple rules: Never take from the same tree twice in one year. In other words, whenever you take a square from a willow tree, you should not go back to that specific tree again for another year. This gives the trees time to heal themselves so that the stress upon them is minimized. NEVER cut a ring all the way around the bark. Just take a square about as big as your palm, that is all you need for a single dose. If you take too much bark at one time, it can kill the tree.

If you cut out a ring around the tree, it will definitely kill it. Now, just wrap your pieces of bark in a napkin and head home. Step 3: Making Willow Tea This is, of course, a very simple and basic thing. First, put your pieces of bark on a coffee filter. Now wrap it all up in a nice little bundle. Put this bundle on top of another coffee filter. Wrap it up again, and secure it with a bread-bag tie. You have now created a teabag. You don’t really have to use two coffee filters, but I do. One filter will do it, but two will do it better. Now, you just throw your teabag into a pot of boiling water just like any other teabag. Stir it periodically, and keep an eye on the color of the water. It will slowly begin to take on a deep reddish-brown color, almost like the color of blood. After about 20 minutes, the tea should be ready. Don’t overcook it or you will burn the medicine out of it. Once it is done boiling, let it steep a few minutes. Now you just have to filter out any remaining solids.

There are many ways to filter a liquid, of course, but this is the way I do it. First, I get my filtering screen. This was half of a device called a “tea ball”: It’s just a fine metal screen. If you don’t have one of these, a small cup with holes poked in the bottom will also work. I like this thing, though, because it fits neatly into a glass like so: Once again, if you don’t have anything like this, just put a small cup inside of a bigger cup, and make sure the smaller cup has many small holes in the bottom. I’m sure you can figure that out without a picture. So, now we put another coffee filter into the screen: And slowly pour the tea onto the filter as shown: Pour it slowly so that it doesn’t get clogged. If you think the filter is clogged, lift up the filtering container and look for the drip: This one has stopped dripping, so I need to take the coffee filter in my hands and squeeze the liquid out, so that it drips into the glass. Once you have squeezed all the liquid out, change filters and keep going until all the liquid has been filtered into your drinking glass.

All you have to do now is add some sugar (if you want to) and drink the stuff. You might be surprised when you find out that it tastes pretty good. That’s all there is to it. You just identify your tree, cut out a square of bark, make tea from it, and drink it. As I said, this tea is excellent medicine for minor pains. I wouldn’t recommend using it too often, as you can build up an immunity to it. I also would not recommend drinking more than one glassful at a time. As I said before, salicylic acid can be troublesome if you take it in large quantities, but you don’t need to take it in large quantities, anyway. This one glass should be all you need. Of course, this crude aspirin is not that strong, as painkillers go. If you are experiencing truly severe pain, this treatment probably won’t make it go away (although it will probably help). This treatment will provide quick relief for minor aches and pains, just like its commercial counterpart, but it has the advantage of being 100% free and 100% natural.

I hope this little pearl of wisdom will be helpful to all of you in the future, when dopeheads have made it impossible for honest folk to get pain medicine. Making Willow Water / Salicylic Acid and SAR Willow Magic In the fifth century B.C., the Greek physician, Hippocrates, wrote that chewing bark of a willow tree could relieve pain and fever. (No wonder squirrels don’t get headaches.) In 1829, the effective ingredient, salicin, was successfully isolated from willow bark. Toward the end of the 19th century, The Bayer Company in Germany trademarked a stable form of acetylsalicylic acid, calling it “aspirin,” the “a” from acetyl, “spir” from Spiraea (the salicin they used came from meadowsweet, Spiraea ulmaria, subsequently renamed Filpendula ulmaria), and “in,” a common ending in drug nomenclature. In the 20th century, over one trillion aspirin, the first medicine created by techniques of modern chemistry, were consumed globally to regulate blood vessel elasticity, reduce fevers and aches, prevent cardiovascular ailments, affect blood clotting, or ease inflammation.

Native Americans and early settlers used willow bark for toothaches and applied it to the source of other pains. But they also recognized that you can actually grow a whole new tree by taking a stem and sticking it in moist soil. The hormones in willows cause rapid rooting, and they discovered these same hormones could induce rooting in other plants, too. Willow water To harness this power, they made a tonic called “willow water” by collecting willow twigs, trimming the leaves, immersing the stems in a pail of water, and pouring the water on newly planted trees, shrubs, and bedding plants. Commercial rooting preparations contain a synthetic form of indolebutyric acid (IBA) and growing tips of willows contain high concentrations of IBA, depending on the quantity used and length of time you soak them. Any willow (Salix) tree or shrub species will work. Another discovery: In the January, 2004 issue of The Avant Gardener, a monthly newsletter to which you can subscribe for $24/year at Horticultural Data Processors, Box 489, New York, N.Y.

10028, editor Thomas Powell notes that gardeners reported all sorts of plants growing remarkably better when given regular doses of tiny amounts of aspirin (1 part to 10,000 parts water; larger doses actually proved toxic),” and that The Agricultural Research Service is investigating the reasons behind aspirin’s beneficial effects. Plants make salicylic acid to trigger natural defenses against bacteria, fungi, and viruses. Aspirin thus is an activator of ‘Systemic Acquired Resistance’ (SAR). However, plants often don’t produce the acid quickly enough to prevent injury when attacked by a microbe. Spraying aspirin on the plants speeds up the SAR response. Tests have shown this works on many crops, producing better plants using less pesticide. “It also makes it possible to successfully grow many fine heirloom varieties which were discarded because they lacked disease resistance.” Powell says. Scientists first encountered the SAR phenomenon in the 1930s. After encountering a pathogen, plants use salicylic acid as a key regulator of SAR and expression of defense genes.

“Only recently have companies begun marketing salicylic acid and similar compounds as a way to activate SAR in crops—tomato, spinach, lettuce, and tobacco among them,” according to Powell. “ARS scientists are studying plants’ defenses, such as antimicrobial materials like the protein chitinase which degrades the cell walls of fungi, and nuclease enzymes which break up the ribonucleic acid of viruses. They’re also testing aspirin and other SAR activators which could be effective against non-microbial pests such as aphids and root-knot nematodes,” Powell says. “This may be the most important research of the century. Stimulating SAR defenses with aspirin or other activator compounds could result in increased food production and the elimination of synthetic pesticides.” He recommends we experiment by spraying some plants with a 1:10,000 solution (3 aspirins dissolved in 4 gallons of water), leaving other plants unsprayed. Tests have shown that the SAR activation lasts for weeks to months.

(Sort of homeopathic heart attack prevention for your plants.) Things to do: Make your own willow water: Easily root azaleas, lilacs, summersweets (Clethra spp.) and roses by gathering about two cups of pencil-thin willow branches cut to 1-3 inch lengths. Steep twigs in a half-gallon of boiling water overnight. Refrigerated liquid kept in a jar with a tight-fitting lid will remain effective up to two months. (Label jar so you won’t confuse it with your homemade moonshine.) Overnight, soak cuttings you wish to root. Or water soil into which you have planted your cuttings with the willow water. Two applications should be sufficient. Some cuttings root directly in a jar of willow water. Make a fresh batch for each use. You can also use lukewarm water and let twigs soak for 24-48 hours. Ilene Sternberg is a freelance writer and amateur gardener with a certificate of merit in ornamental plants from Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania and a former garden guide at Winterthur in Delaware.

©2017 Bluestem Nursery Nature: The Master Medicine-Maker Nature: The Master Medicine-Maker By National Institutes of Health | May 4, 2011 12:32pm ET MORE A shell from the venomous cone snail Conus omaria, which lives in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. A toxin found in the snail's venom could be a useful tool in designing new medicines for a variety of brain disorders, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Credit: Kerry Matz, University of Utah Willow tree bark was the original source of aspirin, while the antibiotic penicillin came from an ordinary mold. More recently, a potent painkiller has been derived from the venoms cone snails use to kill their prey, and a chemical produced by the Pacific yew tree is now the powerful cancer-treating drug paclitaxel (Taxol®). Nature is a prolific source of new medicines. In fact, natural products have led to more than half of the new drugs introduced during the past 25 years. Natural products come from plants, fungi and bacteria in every corner of the globe. Over millions of years, organisms have evolved protective chemicals that interact with specific proteins in their enemies.

Because all living things share the same basic biochemistry, those chemicals can interact with the same proteins in people. Chemists supported by the National Institutes of Health seek to discover and examine such natural products with the hope of developing new medicines to improve human health. The potential applications of some natural products are clear from the start. A substance that kills bacteria—whether it comes from another bacterium, a plant or (rarely) an animal—might work as an antibacterial drug in humans. Natural products can also have less obvious applications for treating conditions such as heart disease, depression and epilepsy. Some products have multiple applications. A portion of the penicillin molecule lowers cholesterol, and a chemical spinoff of the malaria drug artemisinin seems to quell some cancers. Scientists estimate that Earth is home to at least 250,000 different species of plants, up to 30 million insect species and comparable numbers of fungi, algae and bacteria. Despite this vast biodiversity, chemists have tested relatively few organisms to see whether they harbor medically useful substances. Nature's Pharmacy Chemists seek new drugs and drug precursors in forests, oceans, caves and even ordinary backyards.

Many ecologically unique habitats are promising sources of natural products because they host a variety of species that teem with undiscovered chemicals. Ei-ichi Negishi shared the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a carbon-carbon bond-forming method that made it possible to synthesize therapeutic natural products, including a toxin found in the skin of poison dart frogs. Credit: National Institute of General Medical Sciences Here are just a few examples of known and potential drugs that were found in unlikely places: Coral reef dwellers rely on lethal chemical brews to ward off predators or snatch prey. Cone snails in the waters near Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines have a toxin-packed venom that shocks and paralyzes prey. One of these poisons, discovered by pharmacologist Baldomero Olivera of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, is a painkiller 1,000 times more powerful than morphine. The snail-derived drug jams nerve transmission in the spinal cord and blocks certain pain signals from reaching the brain. Vanderbilt University biosynthetic chemist Brian Bachmann goes spelunking in search of cave-dwelling microorganisms with drug-making potential.

In four years, he has found more than 10 compounds scientists haven't seen before. Bachmann also decoded the genetic "blueprints" for making anthramycin, a Valium®-like sedative that came from an organism found in a rotting compost heap, and uncovered the molecular structure of a blood pressure-lowering molecule called K-26, which was found in a soil sample next to a pond in Japan. Pharmacologist David Mangelsdorf at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas is exploring the cholesterol-lowering properties of a compound in the sap of the guggul tree, a species native to India that has been used in Ayurvedic medicine since at least 600 B.C. Photodynamic therapy combines an ancient plant remedy, modern blood transfusion techniques and light to treat several cancers and eye diseases. The key ingredient in this therapy, psoralen, which is inactive until exposed to light, was derived from a Nile-dwelling weed called ammi. Several promising drugs have been found in tunicates, better known as sea squirts.

Chemist Kenneth Rinehart, who was then at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discovered a cancer cell-killing molecule called ET-743 in a type of sea squirt living in the reefs and swamps of the West Indies. Under the brand name Yondelis®, ET-743 is now used abroad for soft-tissue sarcomas and has entered U.S. clinical trials for several cancers. Building on Nature in the Lab After finding a substance with interesting biological properties, researchers often try to reproduce it in a lab. Chemists study and modify natural products in the lab to produce safe and effective medicines. Credit: Bill Branson, National Institutes of Health One reason to do this is that natural substances frequently need to be chemically modified in order to work safely and effectively in the human body. Using methods unavailable in nature, chemists can create tens or hundreds of molecules with slightly different structures. One of these molecules might have the right properties to be a medicine. Researchers also want to find ways to cultivate harvested products or build them from scratch in the lab so they can efficiently produce large quantities. For instance, it takes more than one ton of sea squirts to produce a single gram of ET-743.

Research by Harvard Universitychemist and Nobel laureate Elias J. Corey enabled chemists to synthesize ET-743 in the lab in much higher amounts—enough for it to enter clinical trials and be used in people. Such alternative manufacturing methods are especially important when the organism that makes a natural product is in short supply. Natural products chemistry can be labor-intensive and time-consuming, so researchers are seeking new ways to improve the discovery and production processes. For example, a team at the University of California, San Diego, recently developed computational tools to rapidly determine whether natural compounds collected in environments such as oceans and forests are potential new candidates for drug development. Another fairly new procedure called metabolic engineering allows researchers to remove the genetic instructions for natural products from certain microorganisms, alter them and put them back—potentially boosting production of natural products at the genetic level or custom-making different products that don't exist in nature. Where nature is hiding the next medical treasure is anyone's guess. What's clear is that chemists' creative handiwork is essential to discovering and adapting natural products to improve human health.

Learn more: How to Make Bark Aspirin.html How to Make Bark Aspirin By Jessica Hunter on January 14, 2014 If you’d rather not imbibe harsh chemicals and think it might be a good idea to practice your survival skills, then you might try making bark aspirin. If you’re in pain and there’s a stand of trees handy, you might be able to avail yourself of one of the more effective natural remedies out there: bark aspirin. This may sound just a bit hippy-like for some folks, but the truth is, all aspirin derives, ultimately, from tree bark. You see, salacin, the chemical precursor to commercial aspirin, was originally isolated from willow bark, hence the name (the scientific name for the willow is Salix). It’s also present in the bark of poplar trees, which tend to be more common than willows. Why Bother? Admittedly, commercial aspirin isn’t heinously expensive. But the bark variety is cheaper, it works great, and it’s a great trick to know in case you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the woods and you need some pain relief.

If you twist an ankle when you’re miles from civilization, for example, or if you’re camping and come down with a migraine but forgot the ibuprofen, this survival tip can help you get by until you get home. Collecting the Bark We recommend poplar bark over willow bark, given the poplar’s greater ubiquity, but either will suit. First, make sure you positively identify the tree as to type; both are pretty easy to recognize, though. If you’re game, you’ll need to start with the living inner bark of the tree, the cambium, which lies right next to the heartwood. In the spring and early summer, it’s fairly easy to peel the bark right off the tree. Otherwise you’ll need to use a sharp knife to score it before trying to peel it. The bark of younger trees is the most potent. Incidentally, we’d recommend that you harvest small branches and collect the bark from them, since peeling too much bark off the main trunk might harm the tree. The Recipe It’s easy to use this natural aspirin. Just simmer about two teaspoons of grated cambium in a cup of water for 10-15 minutes to form a tea, strain the result, and drink it.

You might want to add some sweetener, because it’ll be bitter. In fact, you’ll find that this form of aspirin tastes, smells, and works just like the tablets you’re used to. Don’t drink more than 3-4 cups per day, because like commercial aspirin, it can have side effects, particularly stomach pains. You can always make large batches of the salacin tea if you like and put it aside for later use. Similarly, you can store the bark for later use if you don’t happen to be near a ready source, but be aware that both bark aspirin and tea do tend to lose their potency over time. How to make aspirin from willow bark - Preparing for shtf Preparing for shtf How to make aspirin from willow bark Sponsored Links Knowing plants and there medicinal properties is an excellent skill to have. For instance willow bark acts a lot like aspirin, so it can be used to relieve pain and even fevers. You can use the bark from several varieties of the willow tree, including white willow, european willow, black willow, pussy willow, crack willow, purple willow, and others.

So give the video below a watch and learn how to make aspirin from willow bark. Sponsored Links Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter and get weekly gear reviews, survival tips and more! Name:

Question: The bark of which tree was the original source of making aspirin?
Answer: Willow